The present invention relates to horseshoe pads, a method for preparing horseshoe pads, custom horseshoe pads, and a method of repairing and protecting animal hooves.
Horseshoe pads are used in conjunction with the usual and customary steel, aluminum or plastic horseshoes. A horseshoe is a ridged, abrasive resistant rim that is fastened with nails to the base of the outer wall of the animal's hoof. The purpose of this shoe is to protect and preserve the fragile ground border of the outer wall. Although, the horseshoe has proven its value and capabilities for the purpose intended, its protection is limited to the specific area known as the ground border of the outer wall.
Horseshoe pads ar generally used with horseshoes to expand the overall protection afforded by the standard horseshoe. The horseshoe pad covers areas of the hoof that are sensitive, vulnerable and prone to disease, damage, and injury. A horseshoe pad is a generally flat, non-formable sheet material of plastic, rubber, or leather that is placed broadly on the base of the hoof between the shoe and the hoof. This pad covers the entire base of the hoof but contacts only the ground border of the outer wall to which it is nailed in conjunction with the shoe. The pad covers the base of the hoof which consists of the bar, the sole, and the frog. The sole and frog are especially sensitive areas that are intended to be protected by the horseshoe pad.
In addition to protecting the hoof base, the pad also acts as a shock absorber of sorts because the pad is being made of a more resilient material than the tissues of the hoof. Although the pads generally protect the sole and frog from impact injury, the sole and frog remain vulnerable to environmental debris that enters through openings between the rise of the heel of the hoof and the flat non-conforming pad. This opening consists of grooves and channels that make up the frog. This debris consists of urine soaked manure, dirt, stones, wood shavings and such that tend to rot, decay and promote bacterial growth and injury to the sole and frog.
Attempts have been made to alleviate this problem by means of packing agents, such as felt, cotton, silicone, pine tar etc. These methods are time consuming, messy, and in many cases promote further problems. The normal horseshoe pads further offer limited protection to the outer wall of the hoof which is subject to chips, cracks, and fractures of normal ground impact and deterioration, due to the nailing application.
The flat horseshoe pads also greatly diminish the animal's traction and increase the tendency to slip and slide due to the pad's flat nature.
When a hoof is damaged by cracks, chips or deterioration a repair procedure consists of mixing various chemical agents such as epoxy or resins and application to the damaged hoof at the required areas. Other methods consist of wrapping the hoof with fiberglass impregnated taping. These methods are time consuming, messy and offer limited success.
Quarter hoof cracks are very common and tend to heal slowly. They are generally repaired by first cleaning the cracks to remove any harmful material, filling the cracks with an epoxy resin or the like, then suturing or bracing the crack with sheet metal and screws. These method require taking the horse out of its working for status, i.e. racing trail riding, etc. for a relatively long time.
Custom horseshoe pads ar virtually non-existent in everyday use.
The present invention provides a horseshoe pad which offers the farrier, trainer, owner or veterinary a custom horseshoe pad which can easily be conformed to suit the individual variations of hoof anatomy of the same or different animals and provide the animal with a pad that gives the animal a secure feel.
The method of preparing the custom horseshoe pads of the present invention and the custom horseshoe pads provide a time savings and expense savings for the farriers, trainers and veterinarians.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a custom pad and method of sealing the sole and frog in an intimate manner that allows the sole and frog to retain their anatomical shape and configuration for the purposes of maintaining the animal's grip traction and surefooted abilities, while protecting against impact injury from stones and rough terrain.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a pad that may be applied in a custom formed, intimate manner that would form an individualized protective shield for the sole and frog and simultaneously correct and repair any chipped, cracked or deteriorated areas of an animal's hoof on the outer wall.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a method of custom forming an individualized hoof shield or pad that fully protects and seals the configurations of the individual animal's sole and frog by placing thermoplastic material in a container of non-reactive liquid, i.e. water which is at a temperature of about 140.degree. F. to boiling; the thermoplastic material remains in the liquid until it forms a soft pliable mass of thermoplastic; the soft pliable thermoplastic mass is removed from the hot liquid; allowed to cool to a handling temperature, placed on the animal's hoof, manually working the soft pliable thermoplastic into all crevices, concavities, grooves and channels of the base of the hoof and having a portion overlapping the outer periphery of the hoof and securing in place with a standard and customary mechanical retention device, i.e. a horseshoe.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method and a thermoplastic hoof repair material to repair chipped, cracked or damaged areas of the outer wall of an animal's hoof.
Still another object of the present invention is to use an organic thermoplastic material to prepare the custom animal hoof shield wherein the thermoplastic material contains at least about 75% weight of a polycaprolactone polyester of the formula ##STR1## wherein R is an aliphatic group, and n is 300 to 650 and preferably the polyester has an average molecular weight of from about 35,000 to about 60,000 and a crystalline melting point of from about 120.degree. F. to about 160.degree. F.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a polycaprolactone animal hoof pad or shield.
A still further object of the present invention is provide a polycaprolactone custom animal hoof shield or pad wherein the polycaprolactone has a formula ##STR2## wherein R is an aliphatic group, and n is 300 to 650 and preferably has an average molecular weight of about 35,000 to abut 60,000 an a crystalline melting point of from about 120.degree. F. to about 160.degree. F. and preferably from about 130.degree. F. to about 150.degree. F.